Lyrics

So To Speak (OBCR)

Artist

Composer

Sting

Lyrics

Father O’Brien
They’re seriously saying it’s prolonging me life,
If I’ll only submit to the surgical knife?
What are the odds on a month or a week?
When the betting shop’s closing its doors, so to speak.

When you’re laid like a piece of old meat on a slab,
And they cut and they slice, and they poke and they jab,
And they’ll grill ye and burn ye, and wish ye good health,
With their radium chemo and God knows what else?

Well ye can’t fault the science, though the logic is weak,
Is it really an eternal life we should seek?
That ship has sailed, that ship has sailed,
That ship has already sailed... so to speak.

You must finish the work, son.

Gideon
We’re trying, Father.

Father O’Brien
I don’t mean the men, I mean you! You came home for a reason. Now get to it.

Father O’Brien
Finish this labour son, finish this task,
And you’ll find absolution if ye do as I ask,
Remember your father, look after your son,
He’s the bridge to the future when all’s said and done.

Gideon
I came home for a reason that I couldn’t see,
It was easier fighting the storms out at sea,
Yet I’m tied to the wheelhouse ‘til I set this right,
But the ship of my heart wasn’t built for this fight.

Father O’Brien & Gideon
But when the ship sails and the course has been set,
And the wind’s in the offing and the sails have been let,
And the hatches are full, and the hull doesn’t leak,
And the ship is all ready to sail... so to speak.

Father O’Brien
I’m tired and I’m fading and losing the light,
And I’ve no way to tell if it’s day or it’s night.
Follow your head, it’s the harbor ye seek.
And this ship is ready to sail, this ship is ready to sail,
This ship is ready to sail...